Multisensory education is more than just a design scheme, it’s a set of ecosystem prototypes that combine research and layers of sensory experiences that cultivate and reinforce cognition and creative association in places of learning.
By providing this sensory exploration of education, we seek to challenge and perhaps change conventional approaches to education space design, putting the health and wellbeing of our students firmly at the heart of design considerations. The idea of taking into account the senses of a building occupant has extended our thinking into how we smell, touch, hear and see things in the built environment, as well as our psychological interactions with the stimuli it provides. Architecture deals not only with materials and form but also with people, their emotions, environment, space and relationships between them. This makes a rich tapestry of stimuli which touch the human body and mind. In order for this human experience to enhance our lives, buildings should provide a balanced multisensory experience.
The senses not only mediate information for the judgement of the intellect, they are also channels which ignite the imagination. This aspect of thought and experience through the senses is stimulated not only by the environment and people around us but, when we are inside a building, by the architecture of the space, which sculpts the outline of our reactions.
How can we do better? Our multisensory research and innovation framework brings together architects, builders, organisations, academics and students to test, prototype and scale science-verified learning environments.